Page 21 of Mountain Man Grinch
The slide is tight, painful. For a moment, I wonder what nature was thinking. Her body stiffens beneath me, eyes filling with panic. Until I cup her face with both hands, kiss her gently, taking my time.
“Relax,” I urge in dark tones. “Let me in. Let me make you mine.”
She nods, whimpering as I pull back a little, then push deeper. Each time her face starts to crack, I withdraw, let her breathe, calm my own racing heart. “Too much?”
She shakes her head, nostrils flaring, as she closes her eyes, melts into me a little more.
“That’s it, Arielle. You’re doing perfect. Taking me so good.” I drive into her again, penetrating further.
Her eyes open, flashing at me as my lips cover hers. I pull back, then fill her again—warm her, unravel her, hold her. She gives me everything—yielding, trusting, knowing. Our gazes hold, and she really sees me … maybe for the first time in my life.
The storm outside howls now, a furious roar. But inside this trapper’s cabin, it’s all warmth, love, and union. When I can’t take it anymore, when I feel her starting to shatter around me. I kiss her hard, possessively, then bury myself, finally letting go as she milks my cock, stealing my seed in hot waves.
I collapse half on top of her, careful not to crush her but desperate to keep her near me. “You okay?” I ask when I can finally form the words.
She nods, a warm smile on her face. “So, this is it?” Her brows knit, and my heart nose-dives into my stomach.
“What do you mean?” I say too fast, frantic to know what I did wrong.
Arielle giggles, closes the distance, and kisses me. Honest, pure, strong. “This is forever?”
“Yeah,” it is, I admit, heart burgeoning.
“Good because I never want it to end.”
“Then, it won’t,” I say simply, truthfully. “You’re mine to keep safe now. No one touches you.”
She kisses me again. Without art or pretense. Just love dancing in her mahogany and moss eyes.
After she falls asleep, snuggled against my chest, red hair curtained over my pecs, I listen to the storm raging.
Wolfe once told me Sol Rojo hates loose ends. Saw it for myself when his foster brother, Holden, tangled with one of their leaders. The cartel’s likely still angry about that.
And McGregors? They see that family as a challenge, thanks to Mateo’s undercover, anti-human trafficking work. The work we all do. I’m not letting that target paint itself on Arielle’s back.
Every sound, every movement, sharpens my senses. I won’t let anything harm the beauty in my arms. Even if it means going hunting for the men pursuing her once the storm passes. A necessity, not an option.
I feel it in my gut. Those men won’t stop. Neither will I … until my woman’s safe, and they’re both six feet under.
Chapter
Six
DAVIN
Arielle sleeps curled against me, one hand tucked beneath her cheek, the other fisted lightly in my thermal like she’s afraid I’ll disappear if she lets go.
Snow hisses against the roof. Wind moans around the edges of the cabin. The storm’s dying, but something in my gut has been waking up for the past hour. An itch between my shoulder blades. The kind I haven’t felt since combat.
Trouble.
I ease out from under her, settling her gently on the pillow, still asleep. Gus snorts, then waddles closer to the bed for warmth. I pick him up. Set him on the bed next to her. He circles, then lies down, snuggling closer. “Good. Guard our girl, gremlin.”
I pull on my flannel and boots, grab my knife, my sidearm, and my jacket. Then, I stir the hearth with the poker and throw another log on the fire. It catches with a quiet whoosh and a burst of heat.
When I open the door, cold lashes my face, sharp enough to sting. The storm’s quieted but hasn’t stopped. The snowmobile’s still where I stashed it behind a cluster of young trees and brush,buried halfway up the treads. The woods are a mess of white and shadow.
Then, I see it.
